It’s not uncommon to see Chip behind the controls of a snowcat at PNS.
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Mid-Atlantic The Neverending Timberline, WV: Info, Weather, and Stoke
Never in my wildest dreams a couple of years ago would I have thought we'd be at the point we are today with the ski season just a few months away and such an incredible transformation already (and more to come I know) of Timberline.
Agreed. I was walking around the base this past weekend, I actually think they have "over done" the number of Pole Cats they have installed. I think there are 9 or 10 in and around the base. Plus I didn't see any in the new beginner area, which you know they will add a few there when they are done regrading. The guy from Dopplemayer told me Salamander is littered with them. The more the better, as long as they have water.
Salamander has a lot of the poles in the narrower spots with older and newer poles alternating as well as Pole Cats in some of the wider sections/trail intersections.
If they've now made it like Seven Springs, where they can go from bare slopes to almost fully open in like 48 hours (weather permitting), that wouldn't be a bad thing. 
Rudi Riet
AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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I find it interesting that PN plans on shuttling their single winch cat between the two areas as needed. That sounds extremely awkward - let's hope they get one just for Timberline for the 2021-22 season.
If they've now made it like Seven Springs, where they can go from bare slopes to almost fully open in like 48 hours (weather permitting), that wouldn't be a bad thing.
Wait, what? Did Tline install a 7S-style direct spray system? That would be super interesting.
Nope - I was just commenting on the ability to quickly open. Not on the system itself.
Ah, 'K.
I almost had a moment of "base-building moisture levels but sharp" glee there.
Now you're talking over my head... got a link?
To what? Details of the 7S snowmaking system? https://skifederation.org/snow-sport-leaders-herman-dupre-original-maker-sno/
@LaurelHillCraze has posted about it several times, but the important takeaway is that it makes very wet, very sticky snow fast and relatively quietly, with the additional feature of having extra-sharp crystals so it locks to itself. Think very solid snowballs and very good float on thin cover, like when it side-drifts into glades.
Also a bitch to wax for but once you know you know. Oh, and bring a Skigee, coz it sticks to goggles like crazy.
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And 7S will blow snow when open - I was lapping Gunnar one day and mostly managed to duck/ski around the guns, except one gun was messed up with the moisture setting, so there was a nice 20-30 yard stretch of the trail that was so wet it was basically un-skiable. Gotta love skiing in the mid-atlantic...
As noted earlier, Mr Perfect is on record for saying they try to blow at night/when closed, hooray!
As noted earlier, Mr Perfect is on record for saying they try to blow at night/when closed, hooray!
Does Perfect North even have terrain steep enough to warrant having a winch cat?
I've yet to see Off the Wall groomed. It happened occasionally but would be easier with a winch cat.
Isn't the new Piston Bully sitting in the parking lot a winch cat?
As I understand it, winch cats are also sometimes used to push snow uphill to keep slopes covered/open, or spread whales, regardless of steepness. Perhaps it could be used for that.
@LaurelHillCraze and I skied Seven Springs last season when they had some big patches of incredibly sticky beige snow. I suppose that's partly what you're talking about.
I did a couple of headers hitting that stuff. We got some fresh snow overnight too, so the morning front side was a mix of ice, piles of fresh, and beige stickiness. The afternoon on the backside was much better.
Partly.
When you posted, I couldn't help imagining a Tline with a network of tower-and-boom mounted HKD R5s and SV14s ... and it was quite incogruous.
Would be nice to have at the top tho.
Previous owners had installed some snow sticks with on board air compressors several years back. They weren't as obnoxious as the hkd's at Seven Springs. I think they are a better way to make snow when open than those big, loud polecats that make a pile that needs to be groomed before it is skiable but you need a bunch of snowsticks to make as much snow as the polecats. The fixed polecats will be much better than the movable ones they formerly used.
It's my understanding that Perfect North is 100% Pole Cats. Any Perfect folks have any comments on how they work there?
